Most British Muslims believe that London’s police chief should quit over a failed raid on a family house in east London, in which a 23-year-old Muslim was shot, according to a poll conducted by the Guardian newspaper.
The survey shows that 54% of UK Muslims lost confidence in Sir Ian Blair and demand his resignation over the failed “anti-terror” raid, which led to the arrest of two innocent Muslim brothers who were later freed without charge.
Only 23% said the Metropolitan police commissioner shouldn’t quit over the Forest Gate operation, which was based on false intelligence.
57% of those surveyed believe that the police shouldn’t carry out raids to prevent terror attacks if it’s not sure of the intelligence it has.
This opinion sharply contradicted that of the general public, with only 17% agreeing with the Muslims’ view.
Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain Muhammad Abdul Bari said that the respondents could be “reacting against the many hundreds of Muslims who have been arrested in high-profile raids across the country since 9/11”.
"The police must, of course, have the right to act upon credible intelligence and try to pre-empt potential terrorist attacks against our country," he said.
But he added that “serious questions are being asked about how they have reviewed and assessed the intelligence, not just in the case of the Forest Gate raid, but many other similar raids since 9/11”.
When asked who is to blame for the Forest Gate blunder, 30% said the police, 32% blamed the intelligence services, and 32% said both were equally responsible.
The Guardian poll also found that 52% of British Muslims felt that people were “more suspicious” of them since the July 7 London bombings.
Nearly a third said they or members of their family had experienced hostility from non-Muslims since the attacks “because of their religion”.
The survey shows that 54% of UK Muslims lost confidence in Sir Ian Blair and demand his resignation over the failed “anti-terror” raid, which led to the arrest of two innocent Muslim brothers who were later freed without charge.
Only 23% said the Metropolitan police commissioner shouldn’t quit over the Forest Gate operation, which was based on false intelligence.
57% of those surveyed believe that the police shouldn’t carry out raids to prevent terror attacks if it’s not sure of the intelligence it has.
This opinion sharply contradicted that of the general public, with only 17% agreeing with the Muslims’ view.
Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain Muhammad Abdul Bari said that the respondents could be “reacting against the many hundreds of Muslims who have been arrested in high-profile raids across the country since 9/11”.
"The police must, of course, have the right to act upon credible intelligence and try to pre-empt potential terrorist attacks against our country," he said.
But he added that “serious questions are being asked about how they have reviewed and assessed the intelligence, not just in the case of the Forest Gate raid, but many other similar raids since 9/11”.
When asked who is to blame for the Forest Gate blunder, 30% said the police, 32% blamed the intelligence services, and 32% said both were equally responsible.
The Guardian poll also found that 52% of British Muslims felt that people were “more suspicious” of them since the July 7 London bombings.
Nearly a third said they or members of their family had experienced hostility from non-Muslims since the attacks “because of their religion”.